Markets fall in early trade after four-day rally

Mumbai: Benchmark indices fell in early trade on Wednesday after rallying in the past four days amid mixed global market trends.

Despite a positive beginning, the 30-share BSE Sensex failed to hold on to the gains and later declined 140.5 points to 60,980.85. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 36 points to 18,109.40.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Maruti, Infosys, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major laggards.

Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading higher, while Tokyo quoted lower.

Wall Street had ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.

“Globally markets are waiting for the Fed commentary tonight. So it will be the Fed’s commentary and probable guidance that would be market moving,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The BSE benchmark climbed 374.76 points or 0.62 per cent to settle at 61,121.35 on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 133.20 points or 0.74 per cent to end at 18,145.40.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.26 per cent higher at USD 95.84 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Tuesday as they bought shares worth Rs 2,609.94 crore, as per exchange data.